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Letters Patent No. 74,525, dated .Febrz'tary 18, 1868; antedatedFebruary 12, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOOT-HEELS.

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ALL WHOM MAY CONCERN:

' -Be it knownthatiL'JoHN FEARN, of Tompkinsville, in the county oiRichmond, and State of New York, have invented a. new and yimproved Mode4of Protecting the lHeels of Boots and 'Shoes and for other purposes;endl do hereby declarethat the following. is a full, clear, and exact-description thereof,y which will enable others skilled in the art tomake' and use' the same, reference being 'had to the ,accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in whichf Figure l isvarriviewlof a. screwI employ. y V p Figure '2 repre` ents thel bottomot' a shoe, showing my improvedg mode of applying a steel screw -for theprotection ofgthe heels, :Sncf l v Figure 3 is als'ectionthrough theheel andscrew, taken in the line zz, iig.. 1. I v

Figure 4 isa perspectiveview'of a heel, showing the same improvement inanother application.

Similar letters of' reference indicate like parts', A A Y l A Thisinvention relates tofan improved .mode of applying n. screw or screwsto;` theheels of boots and shoes for thepurpose of preventing them fromWearing away unevenly more'on one side than the other, and also topreventvslipping on ice when required. I Y

represents a shoe, of which a is the heel. ,Toprevent one side of theheel from wearing away faster than the other, -as the heelsfof thebootsand shoes'of most persons 'do more or lesson onev side or the other, I

introduce one or `inorehardened steel screws, Z5, shown detached iniig.` 1, and Vin place in theother drawings,

The screw Z is made 4of equal size, and theV thread is cut upon it, fromendto end, with a slot'. as usual atene end, for the screw-driver, asshown in figs, 1, 3.

p For `inserting the screw orserews'in the heel ofa'. hoot or shoe, Ibore ai smooth holeff proper size, withta` *i centrebit, throughthe-heel, atsuch place or places, as may be required and introduce `thescrew or screws from thel inside, as shown ip fig. 3. The screw or.screws used rnust b e shorter than the hole through the heel, to let4the headsink below the surface of theinside. By this plamthe-screwmaybe raised or lowered, at pleasure, by applying a. screw-driver to thehead. on the'inside. The outer end of. the 'screw may wear away,`but thehead on lthe inner end is always the same, and the screw may be lset outexactly as may be necessary 'to protect theh-eel fromwearin'g and keepit even and level. The hole above the head of the screw/,sunk below thesurface may be filled with a cotton wad to make the sole even on the4inside of the shoe. The screw, thus introduced into the heelfand screwedfrom the inside, may be sharpened and projected-beyondthe bottoni oftheheel, as

shown in iig. 4',`for the-purpose of Agiving a sure footing on the iceor other slippery surface, andthe -points of the screws may be drawn inbelow the surface of the heel'when the/need of using them nolongerexists. .i

Having thus described my invention, VI claim as new, and -desire tosecure by Letters Patent-- The cylindrical screw b, with or'withoutpoints,tap'plied from the inside of the heel, whrebythe same can he'screwed in or`out from the inside, to eompensntefoi-the wear of theheel, substantially asherein shown and described. Y y JOHN FEARN.

Witnesses:

WM. F. McNAMAnn, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

